“Filmmaking is something that has no boundaries when it comes to language. There is so much of wonderful cinema here in the south that as a board member I really wish to get the unique and extraordinary stories that people make and help showcase it on a platform like MAMI. My major aim will be to bridge the gap between the national language cinema and the regional language cinema. Be it Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada or Tamil cinema, some of the best independent films are made in these languages and it will be my main focus to make such work be noticed on a national platform.”

Rana wears many hats, successfully. He is a distributor, producer, visual effects ​producer​ and of course an actor. Rana belongs to one the most powerful film families from South India​.​

Kiran​ R​ao​, Chairperson, ​Jio ​MAMI​ with Star:​

“It is our pleasure and privilege to have Rana on our board of trustees, and MAMI as an institution will benefit greatly with the kind of experience, energy and vision that he brings with him. His involvement will also enable a deeper and more consistent engagement with the film industries in the south, which we really look forward to.”

This addition couldn’t have come at a better time. The academy celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. It is also the year where it is revving up its hugely popular ​Y​ear ​R​ound ​P​rogramme. The programme is slated to travel to different cities and also begin a new spate of workshops this year. ​(Register here)

The festival dates for this year are 25th October to 1st November 2018.

About Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star

Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is a film festival that is organised under the aegis of Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), a non- profit trust. In the last 19 years MAMI has consistently shaped the cinematic landscape of India. It has showcased the best of world cinema for Indian audiences and also steered them toward landmark Indian films. In 2016, it launched the Academy’s Year Round Programme under which it now hosts weekly screenings, workshops and conversation sessions for film lovers in the country. This has given MAMI a year-long imprint and presence as opposed to presence only for a week in the year. (www.mumbaifilmfestival.com)